By Jon King/jking@whmi.com


Sentencing is set this week for a Lansing man already facing federal bank robbery charges, after he admitted to smuggling a cell phone into the Livingston County Jail.

36-year-old Brian Dewayne Ali Jr. pleaded guilty last month to charges of possession of contraband in prison and being a habitual offender. The charge was filed after officials found a cellphone in his cell while Ali was jailed on federal bank robbery charges. Ali will be sentenced on the contraband conviction Thursday. Court records show the prosecutors agreed to recommend a 2-5 year sentence in exchange for the plea.

Meanwhile, Ali’s trial on federal bank robbery charges is set to begin April 28th in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Those charges stem from a series of bank robberies in Macomb, Oakland and Livingston counties between December of 2015 and April of 2016, including the former PNC Bank branch on West Grand River in Brighton Township. Police say Ali entered the bank on April 4th of 2016 after disguising himself as a woman, including wearing makeup and a wig. They say he brandished a handgun and what appeared to be a bomb and announced a robbery. Afterward, he fled in a blue Ford Mustang with an undisclosed amount of cash.

He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the bank robbery counts.